Edward,
I'm feeling nostalgic, today. It's hard to believe I've gotten old enough to feel that way! With everything that's happening, though, it has me looking back on the good old days (I can't stand that I just wrote that, what an old man I am!).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe you've ever heard anything about when I first became a solider. To be fair, I don't talk about it often. Thinking of that time, now, I was so idealistic!
See, I was actually training under Lieutenant Hawkeye's father, Berthold. He was an incredibly intelligent man, and he taught me everything I know about alchemy. Once I'd completed my training, I decided to join the military. Naively, I believed that I could change this country from the inside. That by taking on the uniform, I could help and protect the citizens of Amestris and particularly the people I cared for.
He thought I was a fool. I did my utmost to convince him to join me in my expenditure, to become a State Alchemist (I was just a regular soldier at the time) and work with me.
Berthold only chastised me further. Most people I spoke to seemed to agree with him. I wonder, did they somehow see what was happening in the military? Did they know how us dogs would be used? Or was it just some sort of intuition, or knowledge from experience?
Whatever it was, they were right.
Don't get me wrong, I still have every intention of attempting to complete my goals. I suppose I still have some of that naivete inside me, huh?
Yours,
Roy Mustang